[Python-Dev] just say no...

[Jack Jansen]

The problem with "s" and "s#"  is that they're already semantically 
overloaded, and will become more so with support for multiple charsets.

Some modules use "s#" when they mean "give me a pointer to an area of memory 
and its length". Writing to binary files is an example of this.

Some modules use it to mean "give me a pointer to a string". Writing to a text 
file is (probably) an example of this.

Some modules use it to mean "give me a pointer to an 8-bit ASCII string". This 
is the case if we're going to actually look at the contents (think of 
string.upper() and such).

I think that the only real solution is to define what "s" means, come up with 
new getarg-formats for the other two use cases and convert all modules to use 
the new standard. It'll still cause grief to extension modules that aren't 
part of the core, but at least the problem will go away after a while.
--
Jack Jansen             | ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++
Jack.Jansen@oratrix.com | ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++
www.oratrix.nl/~jack    | see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm